USP Spotlights: Carlyn Wei

The cast of Union Street Player’s next production, Morning’s at Seven, is a wonderful blend of old and new faces. The undisputed rookie of the cast is Pella native, Carlyn Wei who portrays Cora Swanson in the show.

"This is my first full length play since I was in A Christmas Carol in second grade – though I won’t tell you how long ago that was!" Carlyn said. "I did take an acting class at Central College this fall and performed some short skits for the class. Once I did that, I knew I wanted to be on the stage!"

Carlyn’s connection to Central College is through the Study Abroad Office, where she works as Office Manager. She brings experience to her work with Central’s international study program. She lived in China for four years and is fairly fluent in Chinese. She now lives in Oskaloosa. She has one son who also loves theatre.

So how has her first experience with USP and community theatre been?

"I’ve been very lucky to work with such great people in this production! They’re all enormously talented, funny and helpful. I’ve learned so much from them and would do it again in a heartbeat!" she said. "This is a very funny show. Everyone has an aunt, uncle, or cousin who’s just a bit odd. Now imagine that all of your relatives are a bit strange and you have the characters in this play! These people are family so we love them, forgive their mistakes and learn from them them ‘where we are’ in life."

Tom Vander Well, who directs Morning’s at Seven, is impressed with Carlyn’s work on stage. "Carlyn is a quintessential Community Theater success story," he said. "Here she was going about her life having never been on stage before, then she heard this whisper in her heart telling her she could do it. She took a step of faith and everyone is rewarded for it. I can see how much fun she’s having. USP is blessed to have her in the cast, and the audience is going to love her portrayal of Cora."

Performances of Morning’s at Seven will be at USP’s stage
home – the Joan Kuyper Farver Auditorium in the Pella Community Center.
The Community Center is located at 712 Union Street in Pella, two
blocks south of the town square and next to the Pella Public Library.